A 24-year-old commercial petrol vendor has been taken into custody by the Calabar Police Command for allegedly killing his 10-year-old daughter in Calabar South Local Government Area.
According to eyewitnesses, the child was beaten by her father after she reportedly misplaced a petrol hose he used for transferring fuel into his commercial motorcycle.
The incident occurred around 7:30 p.m. at his residence at No. 3 Esit Ebom Street, when the man, Joseph Emmanuel, returned home and could not find the pipe he used to transfer fuel to his commercial motorcycles and customers’ vehicles.
Emmanuel allegedly assaulted his eldest daughter after she failed to provide an answer about the missing hose.
Sources said the 10-year-old girl died at a medical facility where she was rushed following injuries sustained from the beating, which reportedly caused her to convulse and bleed from the nose.
Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Cross River State Police Command, Eitokpah Sunday, said Emmanuel was arrested after being rescued from angry mobs who attempted to lynch him following the girl’s death.
The police intervened after a neighbour, Okon Edwin, alerted them about the incident, which had already left the young father with varying degrees of injury.
According to Eitokpah, Emmanuel confessed to the act during interrogation but claimed he acted out of provocation.
“The suspect was taken to the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital for medical attention, while the deceased child was examined and her body deposited at the hospital’s mortuary for preservation and autopsy,” the police spokesperson said.
He further stated that investigations have commenced and that the suspect would be charged to court upon the conclusion of the probe.
